Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1887-07-07

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Alexandria, Ia.
Entered at the Posto0fce at Alexandria, Virginia as
SecOnd-caSS matter.
Negroes in the District Of Columbia.
A writer in the Washington Post says:
There has been much said about the
amount Of crime in the District, as compared
with other cities, and statements based on
the number of arrests have been published
which have done great injustice TO the
character OF our community, simply because
the arrests did not represent the actual
amount of crime, but included thousands OF
! trihing affairs, such loud talking, ETC., for
which in other cities arrests are not made.
| There is, however, one fact of startling i'm.
portance that demands the attention OF
| every thoughtful person, and for which some
remedy should be at once devised, and that
| is, the frightful increase of violent crimes
among the colored people. When Com
missioner Eaton, q year ago last winter,
made the statement at o public meeting
tnat there was more crime in the District in
| proportion to the population than in the
! city Of New York, he very properly added
| that ''of ninety persons arrested s!xty-two
were colored, and that two-thirds of all the
| crimes here were committed by the colored
race, which constituted but one-thjrd Of the
population thus making their proportion
| of the crime, as compared to that OF the
whites, as four TO one In September last,
when there had been seven shooting afirays
in one week-all by colored men-I pub
lished n brief article in the Critic calling at
tenton 10 the fact, and queried as to the
alleged moral progress OF the race. One
of the local papers replied in column edi.
! torial, in which it said that the
manifestation Of crime on the part
of the colored people was "but a pas.
sing phase Of brutality which occurs at in
tervols among all nations, and that instead
| of wondering that so much crime exists, the
more legitimate surprise should be that so
much seltcontrol had been exercised" 1
should be glad to share in this rose colored
view of the matter did the facts permit, but
! they don't have before mo the newspa-
per record Of no less than thirtyfive mur
| derous assaults by colored persons in the
| District within the past five months, and
! that is not all OF these, seventeen were
by shooting, stabbing Or cutting, and SIX by
| clubs or similar weapons. If this Is an eX-
hi5ition of their selfcontrol, what in Gods
name must an exhibition of their unre-
strained passions be? One can scarcely
pick up a daily paper without seeing from
cne to three such crimes announced, TO say
nothing of the frequent assaults on women
with intent to commit q worse crime. Then
| look at the police reports-the number ar
rested for carrying concealed weapons,
showing that they are prepared, with or
without provocation, Langston-like, 10
commit murder, to say nothing Of the daily
assaults, highway robberieS snatching of
pockethooks from women on the streets, the
thefts by servants and the like. 1t is safe
] to say that one-half, if not two-thrds, of the
colored men, especially the younger ones, go
armed. Every one must remember the
shooting of Officer Shenan by the coored
| rough whom ho attempted to arrest; and
| it is almost daily occurrence for officers
| to be attacked and shot, stabbed or beaten
with bricks or stones by colored men and
women when they attempt TO arrest them.
These and similar facts show beyond any
question that it is something more than a
spasmodic outbreak Of crime. 1t is contin'
uous, practically uniform and premeditated,
as is shown by the fact that they almost
universally 60 armed with deadly weapons,
| and do not hesitate to use them on the
| slightest excuse, and often without provo
cation. Now why should such state olaf
fairs exist here? Although there was a
large coored population here before the
war, both slave and free, no such state of
affairs existed then. The proportion of vio-
lent crimes committed by the colored popu.
| lation then was far less than now. Felo-
nious assaults on women by colored men
were seldom heard of in those days, while
now it is almost weekly occurrence, and is
not confined to women of their own color
either. The record of illegtimate births
and of infanticide is appalling. If there is
any place in the United States where the
colored race ought TO have progressed NOR
ally as we'll as mentally it is here in the Dis
trict of Columbia Here they were first
manumitted here they were first given the
franchise; here they were first provided
with free schools, and, for the past twenty
years or more, they have had all the ad-
vantages Of schools possessed by the whites.
The same amount of money per cap
ita is spent for them as for the
white children. They use the same
books and are taught the same branches,
and by the same system and methods They
have their own Sunday schools and socie-
ties and churches, and of the latter have
more in proportion than the whites. Con-
gress has legslated for their special benefit
in many ways, and they had, moreover,
the example and influence of the free
colored population to aid them in their
development. In fact this District is, and
ever since the war has been, the Mecca OF
the colored race. Why, then, this tendency
10 violent crime and immortality on their
part? Who can tell? No doubt much of
! il arises from the want of proper home
training and control Those who have
crown up since the war seem to think that
! freedom means freedom from all restraint,
I both legal and moral. Notwithstanding
/ .rl Ill ool, nrn frnn To all nnr STRAITS nra